March 2013 – March 2014

The Middletown Springs Historical Society will be holding its 25th Annual Maple Festival on the Green and indoors on Sunday, March 17 from 1-4 pm. The event will feature Fred Bradley’s demonstration of early maple sugarmaking in a cast iron kettle over an open fire.

Bill Clark, Past President of the Vermont Maple Sugarmakers Association, one of the oldest Vermont maple organizations, dating back to 1893, will give a talk on the evolution of sugaring technique using examples from the Historical Society collection. Delicious maple desserts created by Society members, maple products and crafts, and new 2013 syrup will be available for sale. Old fashioned sugar on snow and maple cotton candy are always favorites. Videos about Vermont maple sugaring will be shown continuously. Maple sap buckets decorated by local school students will be sold in a silent auction which will also feature crafts, merchant donations and services. A raffle with over 50 prizes including $75 and $50 in cash, maple gift baskets, maple syrup and maple products, craft items, and gift certificates from local businesses will go on continuously during the festival. Acoustic music and kids’ activities enliven the FREE afternoon event!

For more information about the Maple Festival call Robert Gould at 802-235-1811 or David Wright at 802-235-2376.

Maple Fest Weekend in Poultney, VT includes a pancake breakfast at the Main Street Methodist Church, a 5K Run at Poultney High School, a craft fair, horse and wagon rides, sugar house tours and more. For more information and a full schedule of events, please visit www.poultneyvt.com/maple-fest-2013/.

Come join them for the annual celebration of Vermont’s first seasonal crop, delicious maple syrup. Maple Fest is one of the largest events in Poultney and the Poultney Chamber of Commerce has organized many interesting things to see and do. Through and around Poultney sugar houses will be opening their doors for touring and starting at 10:00am to 2:00pm stores on Main Street will be open with featured sales!

The Maple Festival celebrates an important aspect of Whitingham’s economic and cultural heritage. Several of our eighteen Whitingham sugar makers have graciously opened the doors of their sugar houses and given their time so that residents, visitors and guests alike will gain a better understanding and appreciation for “the art and science” of maple syrup and sugar making and the historical importance of “sugaring” in our town.

Whitingham is the birthplace of Brigham Young and there are two monuments in town noting Young’s achievements. The town is located in southern Vermont about 25 miles north of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and between Bennington and Brattleboro, Vermont. There are a number of Bed and Breakfasts and small inns in and around town. In addition that weekend, the town hosts a Craft Fair on Saturday and Sunday, Pancake breakfasts/luncheons on both Saturday and Sunday and a sugar on snow supper on Saturday evening.

On March 24th, the Milton Historical Society will be holding its annual Sugar-on-Snow party at the Milton Grange from 1-4pm. Please join us at one of the best community events of the season! In addition to the sugar-on-snow, enjoy other maple treats, kids activities and live music with the Arrowhead Ramblers.

If you’ve never tried this unique all Maple Feast, you should consider it! It takes place here in Wells, Vermont at the Modern Woodmen of America Hall located on Main Street. (VT RT 30, 8 miles south of Poultney) This feast takes place, Saturday, April 27th. Serving is from 4:30 until 7:00 P.M.

Full salad bar of over 20 items with five of Sue’s distinct Maple dressings.

The Vermont Farm Show grew out of the Old Vermont Dairymen’s Association and Maple Sugar Makers’ Association meeting which had been held for numerous years. In 1930 these meetings were held at the Memorial Auditorium which was only a few years old at the time. In 1932 Orlando Martin asked the Director of the Department of Agriculture if there was any possible way to put an educational exhibit and product competition in the basement of the Auditorium. That first exhibit was a huge success and so began the Vermont Farm Show.

During its first 80 years, the Show has undergone many changes which reflect the diversity of Vermont agriculture. The addition of exhibitors in the outdoor ice rink in 1984 was only one of many physical challenges as the Show grew larger and more diverse. Another significant change occurred in 2012 when we moved the location from Barre to the Champlain Valley Exposition grounds in Essex Junction.

Join us at the Sugarhouse on March 8th from 8am-11am for pancake breakfast! Come enjoy yummy pancakes, coffee and juice, solar sweet maple products and the company of your fellow neighbors. Enter to win a beautiful Solar Sweet Maple Farm gift basket filled with goodies!

This website is the result of tax-supported funding from USDA Rural Development and as such is not copyrightable. It may be shared with the customary crediting of the source. Funding for this project was made possible in part with a Rural Business Enterprise Grant from USDA Rural Development and a grant awarded by the Wood Education and Resource Center, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, USDA Forest Service.